State's new texting ban goes into effect on Tuesday

Destiny Heitzmann, 16, tries to text and drive as students in a West Port High School drivers education class learn the dangers of texting and driving on a simulator from AT&T. AT&T has a national program to educate drivers about the danger of texting and driving and West Port Students will be asked to sign a pledge not to do it.

Published: Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 6:05 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 6:05 p.m.

Many drivers have sent a text message while driving at some point, or at least sent one while stopped at a red light or intersection.

On Tuesday, Florida becomes the 41st state to officially ban texting — which also includes emailing and instant messaging — while driving.

The new law does allow drivers to send text messages, instant messages and emails while stopped at red lights or caught in traffic jams.

Violations of the new law will be considered “secondary” offenses, like the seat belt law was for decades. A driver must be pulled over for some other violation — like running a stop sign — before an officer could issue a citation under statute 316.305.

Though most officials welcome the new law, many Floridians say the penalties are too weak: $30 for the first offense and $60 for the second.

“I have been guilty of it (texting while driving) before,” said Jesse Parker, 18, a 2013 Forest High School graduate. “We should have a texting law because it will save lives, but this is too weak and won't stop it.”

Standing nearby, Shamar Lindsey, 20, a 2011 Forest graduate, said “the law needs to have more of a penalty” for it to be taken seriously.

“It will become a joke,” Lindsey said, with Parker adding that teens will brag about a $30 ticket and post a picture of it to their Instagram accounts as a badge of honor.

Sgt. Frank Zadnik, supervisor of Ocala Police Department's Traffic Unit, said though the penalties may be weak, “it is a start; better than nothing.”

Zadnik said the new law gives law enforcement agencies a chance to educate the public about distracted driving. Zadnik hopes the law will make drivers pay more attention.

“Our primary concern is for the safety of our citizens,” Zadnik said.

Officer Harold Compton, who works on the traffic unit, said the new law targets much more than texting.

The law states that “a person may not operate a vehicle while manually typing or entering multiple letters, numbers, symbols or other characters into a wireless communications device.”

Compton said spotting and ticketing violators will be similar to enforcing the seat belt law, which became a priority offense just a few years ago.

Compton said though an officer may spot a person violating the texting law, he or she must find a priority offense, like speeding 5 mph over the limit. The officer may choose to give the driver a warning for speeding and then issue the driver a citation under the texting law.

The law also gives law enforcement officers virtually no way to obtain cellphone records to prove whether a person was actually texting while driving.

“Only in the event of a crash resulting in death or personal injury, a user's billing records for a wireless communications device” and written statements are admissible in court.

Compton said there are many exemptions to the law, such as: emergency vehicle drivers, reporting suspicious activity to law enforcement, and using the phone for navigation.

According to state statistics, “a texting driver is 23 times more likely to get into a crash than a non-texting driver.”

State statistics also show that nearly 1 in 5 people are killed in distracted driving-related crashes involving a cellphone.

Contact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter at JoeOcalaNews.

<p>Many drivers have sent a text message while driving at some point, or at least sent one while stopped at a red light or intersection.</p><p>On Tuesday, Florida becomes the 41st state to officially ban texting — which also includes emailing and instant messaging — while driving.</p><p>The new law does allow drivers to send text messages, instant messages and emails while stopped at red lights or caught in traffic jams.</p><p>Violations of the new law will be considered “secondary” offenses, like the seat belt law was for decades. A driver must be pulled over for some other violation — like running a stop sign — before an officer could issue a citation under statute 316.305.</p><p>Though most officials welcome the new law, many Floridians say the penalties are too weak: $30 for the first offense and $60 for the second.</p><p>“I have been guilty of it (texting while driving) before,” said Jesse Parker, 18, a 2013 Forest High School graduate. “We should have a texting law because it will save lives, but this is too weak and won't stop it.”</p><p>Standing nearby, Shamar Lindsey, 20, a 2011 Forest graduate, said “the law needs to have more of a penalty” for it to be taken seriously.</p><p>“It will become a joke,” Lindsey said, with Parker adding that teens will brag about a $30 ticket and post a picture of it to their Instagram accounts as a badge of honor.</p><p>Sgt. Frank Zadnik, supervisor of Ocala Police Department's Traffic Unit, said though the penalties may be weak, “it is a start; better than nothing.”</p><p>Zadnik said the new law gives law enforcement agencies a chance to educate the public about distracted driving. Zadnik hopes the law will make drivers pay more attention.</p><p>“Our primary concern is for the safety of our citizens,” Zadnik said.</p><p>Officer Harold Compton, who works on the traffic unit, said the new law targets much more than texting.</p><p>The law states that “a person may not operate a vehicle while manually typing or entering multiple letters, numbers, symbols or other characters into a wireless communications device.”</p><p>Compton said spotting and ticketing violators will be similar to enforcing the seat belt law, which became a priority offense just a few years ago.</p><p>Compton said though an officer may spot a person violating the texting law, he or she must find a priority offense, like speeding 5 mph over the limit. The officer may choose to give the driver a warning for speeding and then issue the driver a citation under the texting law.</p><p>The law also gives law enforcement officers virtually no way to obtain cellphone records to prove whether a person was actually texting while driving.</p><p>“Only in the event of a crash resulting in death or personal injury, a user's billing records for a wireless communications device” and written statements are admissible in court.</p><p>Compton said there are many exemptions to the law, such as: emergency vehicle drivers, reporting suspicious activity to law enforcement, and using the phone for navigation.</p><p>According to state statistics, “a texting driver is 23 times more likely to get into a crash than a non-texting driver.”</p><p>State statistics also show that nearly 1 in 5 people are killed in distracted driving-related crashes involving a cellphone.</p><p><i>Contact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter at JoeOcalaNews.</i></p>